Dan mentions sustainability requirements, and that microfiber mops use less water and chemical than string mops. Doubtless because of the one minute format, he omits other advantages, some "environmental", some not: fewer workplace injuries (a lighter mop and less frequent mop bucket dumping); floors drying faster (because less solution is left on the floor) leading to fewer slip/fall injuries among both workforce and the public; less particle mass left on the floor, to be kicked up by foot traffic or airflow to contribute to poorer indoor air quality; less pathogen cross-contamination room to room or area to area; greater employee productivity; cleaner looking floors.

02/21/2012

The article focuses on schools, clearly the habitat of an at-risk part of the population. Schools are also a good test subject, and they closely monitor "sick days", which many businesses do not. But what goes for schools, in terms of keeping ones folks healthy, also goes for commercial firms.

"Cleaning removes germs, dirt, and impurities from surfaces or objects. Cleaning works by using soap (or detergent) and water to physically remove germs from surfaces. This process does not necessarily kill germs, but by removing them, it lowers their numbers and the risk of spreading infection.

"Disinfecting kills germs on surfaces or objects. Disinfecting works by using chemicals to kill germs on surfaces or objects. This process does not necessarily clean dirty surfaces or remove germs, but by killing germs on a surface after cleaning, it can further lower the risk of spreading infection.

"Sanitizing lowers the number of germs on surfaces or objects to a safe level, as judged by public health standards or requirements. This process works by either cleaning or disinfecting surfaces or objects to lower the risk of spreading infection."

Saw a handbill from one of my competitors advocating combating flu via "cleaning" touch-points, etc. Almost no mention of sanitizing of disinfecting. So even the "professionals" often do not have a clue.

The article continues with cleaning and disinfecting (note the latter word) touch points, systematizing ones routine, properly using the proper chemicals, safety, and so on. Stuff we've been doing for years, but a good synopsis of proper procedures.

02/18/2012

In a post several weeks ago, I recommended Immigration & Customs Enforcement's "Self Check" program, which allows folks to confirm that E-Verify will return an accurate result when a prospective employer sends in their information. At that point, the program was in the "rolling out" stage, available only here and there across the nation. ICE has since announced that the program in on-line nationwide.

We're big on proper employee documentation, and fully screen all of our folks. E-Verify helps us to confirm identity of our people, which makes running an individual's court records, for instance, a bit more meaningful. We go a step further, in fact, as a charter member of ICE's "IMAGE" Program.

The nationwide Self Check availability is quite useful. I checked my own the other day; regardless of what you might have heard, I'm legal.

02/16/2012

Quats, for instance, are quite effective at disinfecting, but not at cleaning, particularly since the addition of a surfactant (needed to spread the solution) diminishes the effect of the disinfectant. So we use a hospital grade quat product in restrooms and lunchrooms, as part of a two part process - clean first, and then disinfect. We can apply the quat disinfectant liberally, on restroom fixtures, without worry about damage, and give it the 10 minutes dwell time required. And we don't have to rinse it off - both a time saver and a help in not re-infecting the surface.

For touch-points around the office, we use a hydrogen peroxide based product - it's both a good cleaner, and a good sanitizer (not quite a disinfectant, but we don't need quite the level of pathogen kill on a door jamb that we do on a urinal). And, it gives us effective sanitation with a dwell time of 30 to 60 seconds, achievable on touch-points. So we can wipe with a saturated microfiber cloth (microfiber cleans quite well on its own), clean the surface, remove both dirt and most germs, and leave the surface moist enough to achieve sanitation - without spraying the chemical on the surface, and into the air, and having it run down the wall.

02/15/2012

Good article in Cleaning & Maintenance Management, Feb. 2012, on the above.

The magazine's editor, Aaron Baunee, gives a useful overview on ATP measurement ("measures an energy molecule found in all living - or once living - organisms"), ultraviolet light inspections (UV, or black-light, causes bodily fluids to fluoresce - just like OJ's footprints), and airborne particle counters (to measure fine airborne dust, including germs). Was a bit startled to find myself quoted on the latter; I'd forgotten I'd given them a quick interview.

We have ATP measurement available for critical surfaces - think preschool and grade-school desktops. We also use UV lights extensively. We recently started having all of our crews use them to inspect their own work; we had been using them just at the supervisory and customer service level. Our crews bought into the program easily; it's given us a major improvement in restroom detail work in particular. We do a number of small "draw centers" - medical offices that draw blood and take urine tests. You'd be surprised where-all a bit of urine over-spray can hide.

Each quantifying method has its drawbacks. ATP measurement cannot tell if the offending organism is dead or alive, only if it's been removed, so you can get a positive reading on a surface that's been disinfected by killing the germs. UV light fluoresces substances other than bodily fluids (some restroom caulk, for instance), so one needs to look a bit further to see it you've really got a problem. And indoor air quality measuring counts the number of particles per unit of air, but does not tell you how many of those particle are germs, or spores, or of what variety.

But, used in conjunction, and with a bit of common sense, one can identify, and remedy, cleaning and sanitation issues.

02/13/2012

A somewhat analogous situation the other day brought to mind one of my very first lessons in customer perception, something over 30 years ago, not too long after I started my Phoenix based janitorial service.

A small client had called, complaining that we "never" vacuumed her back storage room, as evidenced by a dead cricket in the middle of the floor, which my client assured me she had been watching for "several weeks".

Dutifully, I journeyed out to see the client. Got a thorough look around the facility (looked good, overall), then had the client show me the offending cricket and closet. Sure enough, there was the cricket. Having just retired from a two-year career in real estate appraisal, where I learned to appreciate the value of checking, and double checking, everything (particularly what clients tell one), I nudged the dead cricket with the toe of my shoe. Sure enough, the cricket, suddenly quite lively, jumped away. My client had remarkably little to say.

02/08/2012

"Self Check" is a handy little service introduced recently by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. It allows an individual to check his own name/Social Security number combination, before doing a job interview, and so head off "no match" issues before hand. Besides the obvious ID theft issues, it's amazing how many records bounce because of clerical mistakes - misspelled names and so on.

Good idea for the prospective employer to provide the e-mail address of the service to folks they are looking at interviewing, again to speed up the process.

"USCIS is releasing the Self Check service in phases. At this point the service is offered only to users that maintain an address in Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Colombia, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, or Washington. The availability of Self Check will be limited for the initial launch as the service is tested and improved upon based on the outcomes of the initial implementation."

02/02/2012

"At any given time, 1 in 20 hospital patients is battling an infection that they got on site, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Hospitals now pay greater attention to hand hygiene -- Purell dispensers have become ubiquitous -- but their main infection control methods haven't changed much for decades. Most rooms are still disinfected by housekeepers armed with chemical cleaners."

The "robot" showcased is a portable ultraviolet pulse generator, for use in patient rooms, bathrooms, and so on. UV light kills pathogens. After the anthrax scare a few years back, for instance, the Post Office explored treating mail with UV lights to kill such things as, well, anthrax. Might have worked except for the long exposure time each side of every letter would have required (mail delivery is slow enough as it is). UV lights are also what air conditioning firms use in AC ductwork to kill airborne germs as they blow by.

Which brings up the cost of the UV robot - about $80,000.00. Reasonable for a hospital - think what a single hospital acquired infection costs to treat - but a bit less affordable for a janitorial firm. Looking ahead, though, given that most technological innovations drop rapidly in price as they propegate, something similar could well be in our future.

We've offered janitorial services in Phoenix since 1974; hold the BBB's A-plus rating; and have long been in the forefront of the industry in environmentally sensitive cleaning for health, safety and security. Our office cleaning program can generally improve Indoor Air Quality, in the size range of most allergens, by a factor of 50%, as reflected in our ongoing IAQ sampling. We also furnish Green Seal certified recycled restroom paper products and janitorial supplies.